Blackout (24 page)

FIFTY-FOUR

THE CAR RIDE WAS TAKING
forever.

Laura sat in the backseat with the smartphone, keeping an eye on the battery. She didn’t have a charger, and it was already down to half power.

Military targets. That was what she was after. Military targets she could hit with Dan. And, maybe if Jack and Aubrey were dumb enough, they’d help out. Alec had always thought Laura was the dumb one, but she’d played these two kids easily. They had a common enemy, and Laura had slipped into a position of authority—she was the oldest, the most powerful. And they were scared; they were scared of her, but they were also looking for someone to tell them what to do.

She scrolled through websites over and over again, searching for something good—something important. Some of the sites had obviously been censored in recent weeks, removing a lot of information about the military, but nothing was ever entirely erased from the internet. She just needed to find it.

Dan was in San Francisco, but there weren’t many targets nearby—a couple of Coast Guard stations. Farther to the east were three air force bases, but she doubted that there was much Dan could do there—he couldn’t get close enough to disrupt a runway or knock down a tower. And Laura didn’t feel like taking any more bullets.

There was a naval college to the south. That was probably the least protected option, but it didn’t seem like a very enticing target: any damage she did there wouldn’t make an immediate impact in the war.

But the farther south they went, the more bases popped up: air force, army, navy—even marines. There had to be something good in one of them, some weakness that could be exploited.

She looked at maps of the bases, and she focused on mountains—somewhere Dan could bring down another avalanche, or cause an earthquake. But there just wasn’t a lot in Southern California. Plenty of bases, but nothing next to a hill or a cliff or a mountain range.

She scrolled farther south.

Wait a minute.

She pulled up a topographical map.

It was a gamble, but if it worked . . .

She turned off the phone and leaned back in her seat, a plan already forming in her mind. Now she just needed Dan.

FIFTY-FIVE

IT TOOK THEM THREE HOURS
to get to San Francisco. The Bay Bridge was bumper-to-bumper traffic with a military roadblock at each end. Still, the bracelets and cover story seemed to work just fine. The military was obviously looking for someone else—something more specific. They checked the trunk, and looked under the car with long mirrors on sticks, but eventually let them pass. Aubrey drove as quickly as she dared through the hilly streets of San Francisco until they got within a quarter mile of city hall.

There was no plume of dust and smoke, no sounds of settling steel. If the terrorists were really going to come for city hall, they were taking their time. But that was no different from the attack on the Space Needle—an anonymous tip that didn’t pan out for hours.

They parked near a tall office building, and Jack got out of the car and listened. Aubrey stood next to him, holding his hand and trying to make him look as little like a terrorist as possible. With her other hand, she was downing power bars, loading up on calories. “They’re there,” he whispered, leaning in close so his voice was barely audible. “I can hear the radios. I’m not sure where they’re stationed. I haven’t heard specific mention of a sniper. There’s a Lambda who seems to have some kind of night vision. That shouldn’t do anything right now. The other one is really fast.”

“Do you think the night-vision one can see me?” she asked.

Jack shook his head. “They’re not even having her do anything. She’s sitting back with the warrant officer.”

“Any snipers?”

“There have to be,” Jack said. “It seems like they’d set it up similarly to the Space Needle. I just don’t know.”

“Are there other people there?”

“City hall is empty,” he said, “but some of the other buildings are still occupied. There aren’t many people on the streets, but there are a few.”

Aubrey turned to Laura. “Then let’s do this. You two walk together down there, out in the open, and don’t do anything. You’re the right age for terrorists, so they’ll watch you. I’ll walk with you, and Jack, when you can find Dan or the warrant officer, then you let me know.”

“Why do you need the warrant officer?” Laura asked.

“Because he’s got the detonator,” Aubrey said, annoyed that no one else seemed to have thought of that. She had to do more than just walk away with Dan—she had to disable the bomb on his ankle. She’d made the deletions on their files, but did that really mean anything? Did that automatically deactivate the detonator? She didn’t want to take the chance.

Laura nodded. “For all we know, his detonator works on our bombs, too.”

Aubrey rubbed her hands over her face. “Let’s get this over with. Dan had better be worth it.”

There was a large open plaza a few streets up from them, with dried autumn lawns and rows of flags. No one was in sight, and the three of them strolled out into the middle. Aubrey wasn’t invisible yet—there was no point. Any sniper would see her out here, but it wasn’t her plan to stay in the center of the action for long.

“I can hear them,” Jack said. “But . . . I just don’t know where it’s coming from. It should be over there.” He gestured with his head toward an empty playground.

“Could they be invisible?” Laura asked.

“No,” Jack said. “We already know what they can do.”

Aubrey’s hand slipped down into Jack’s and she laced her fingers with his. “I want you to be careful,” she said, her voice so quiet that she could hardly hear it.

He replied with a squeeze.

“I mean it, Jack.”

“It’s under us,” he said out loud, and smiled. “There’s a parking garage underneath us.”

Aubrey looked over at the playground and saw the now obvious railing that blocked the ramp downward.

“Is Dan down there?”

“They’re talking to him on a radio,” Jack said. “But he hasn’t responded to pinpoint him yet. They’re also talking about us. They don’t seem to think we’re a threat, but they’re wondering why we’re all standing here.”

“Well,” Aubrey said. “You guys get out of the plaza, away from snipers. I’m going down the ramp.”

She disappeared, and even though she knew he couldn’t feel it, she kissed Jack on the cheek. She didn’t know how long it would be before she’d see him again, or if she would.

Aubrey made her way to the playground. The ramp was more visible now, but she wondered what the best way was to enter it. Should she hop over the side to suddenly get out of the snipers’ view? Or should she casually stroll down so she didn’t look like a threat?

She wished she had more training—more time back at Dugway to really learn how the Green Berets react in situations like this.

She walked to the entrance of the ramp and started down.

She could barely keep her eyes open, she was cringing so much.

And then she was in the parking garage.

A Green Beret spun from the shadows, bumping into her and then suddenly looking confused that she wasn’t there.

“What the hell?” he said, spinning all around looking for her.

The insignia on his shoulder indicated he was a sergeant—not who she was looking for.

“Jack,” Aubrey said. “You’d better be out of sight. They know I’m a Lambda.”

The sergeant put his hand to the mic at his mouth. “She’s gone. I don’t know where she is. Anyone have eyes?”

As her vision adjusted to the darkness, she saw the other three: another sergeant, the warrant officer, and a girl in camouflage without any insignia. She was the Lambda. There was no sign of Dan.

All three soldiers had their guns readied, searching the dim light for her, not knowing she was just inches from them.

She ran to the warrant officer and gently patted his chest pocket. The detonator was there.

“Kubato,” the officer said into his radio. “I want you to find those other two. Get eyes on them, and then radio me. Don’t get shot.”

“Jack, they’re coming for you. Get out of there.”

Aubrey very gingerly—well, as gingerly as possible—attempted to open the pocket.

Crap.
It was Velcro. She wouldn’t be noticed, but would ripping open a Velcro pocket be?

It would put suspicion on all the Lambdas on team 9128. They were going to get shot, because someone was stealing the detonator.

She couldn’t let that happen.

But the other Lambda—the fast one—was chasing down Laura and Jack. He was going to lead the other Green Berets to them.

Aubrey had to do something.

She could tie this girl to the officer—that way if he blew up the leg, he’d hurt himself.

No, that was stupid.

She could appear—announce that she wasn’t with them, and make a show of leaving the girl alone.

No. She’d get shot as soon as she appeared.

She’d have to make him forget about the detonator. That was the only way. Make it so far from his mind that he wouldn’t ever consider it.

“Jack,” she said. “You’re going to hear gunshots. Ignore them.”

Aubrey took a breath and pulled the officer’s sidearm from his holster. Just as he was turning, feeling the motion, she emptied the magazine, firing wildly into the few cars that remained in the parking garage. Glass exploded and tires boomed. Gas was leaking from one, but nothing was on fire.

The soldiers were scrambling now, searching everywhere, panicked and calling for backup.

She disassembled the M9 and dropped it on the ground with a clatter, then moved to the next soldier. She yanked the pistol from his hand and did the same, though she was firing into the puddle of leaking gas now. On the third shot there was a spark and the small sedan burst into flames.

“Get out!” the warrant officer barked. One man grabbed the Lambda girl by the collar and pulled her toward the exit ramp. The warrant officer followed and Aubrey tripped him. He splayed out on the concrete, and as he tried to get up she tore open his pocket and stole the detonator.

The group dashed up the ramp, and she followed, running in weird loops and circles around the Green Berets. The snipers could see her now. They could take a shot, and she had to make it too hard for them to take her out without shooting a fellow soldier.

It was stupid. She didn’t have the energy for this. She wasn’t in as good of shape as they were anyway, much less so when she was invisible. She hadn’t thought this through.

But then the men stopped at the top of the ramp.

“There’s a terrorist here?” the officer shouted into his mic. “What do you mean you can see her?”

She grabbed the third soldier’s pistol—not because she knew what to do with it, but because it might make the snipers pause. She kept moving around the soldiers, inches from them. She was shorter than all of them, which made her feel better, because any headshot on her would hit a soldier in the chest. No sniper would take it without risking their own man.

Another man was running toward them across the plaza.

Dan.

She was stumbling now as she moved around the men. She yanked the microphone from the officer’s ear, and cut through the cable with his knife. She jumped to the next man and did the same, but by the time she got to the third, he was holding on to his—the snipers must have been telling them what was happening.

Dan approached cautiously.

And then suddenly the ground erupted, like an earthquake, and everyone fell to their knees. She tried to hold on to a soldier, but she was an open target.

She jumped up and dove for the cover of the ramp, and the ground bounced under her feet. She couldn’t tell if the cracks and pops she heard were shattering stone or rifle blasts, but she was a sitting duck.

The ramp bounced again, the cement sides starting to crumble inward, and she rolled to the center. Dan couldn’t see her—he must have just been incapacitating her.

She spun, tried to run, and tumbled farther down the ramp. She was almost out of the snipers’ view, almost under the cover of the smoke-filled garage.

The ground thumped again, and she was underground, bits of cement dropping all around her.

Dan was standing at the top of the ramp, the battered Green Berets all around him. Aubrey stood and reappeared, only for an instant, and waved for him to come forward. Then she disappeared again, and ducked into the darkness of the garage.

The place was thick with smoke and the scent of burning oil. She leaned against a pillar, the pistol in one hand and the detonator in the other.

Dan appeared out of the darkness.

She made herself visible, and held up her hands.

“I’m a friend,” she said, and then tossed him the detonator.

His eyes went wide. “How did you find me?” There was an uncertain grin on his face.

“I have Laura Hansen with me.”

“Laura? I didn’t think she survived. But, of course she did.” He was marveling at the little device in his hand.

Aubrey looked past him. “They’re going to be here soon. I can’t make you invisible. And the snipers can see me.”

He looked up at her, his face full of confidence. “I can get us out. Can you run?”

“Kind of,” she said. “This wears me out.”

Dan looked like he could hardly control his happiness. “I’m going home.”

“First we have to get out of this garage.”

“Easy,” he said. “We just need to get to the top of the ramp and then out to the road. Roads are easy.”

She had no idea what he meant, but she nodded. “I’m going invisible. Just know that I’m with you.”

He nodded. “Like old times. For my mother and yours.”

She stared awkwardly for a minute and then disappeared.

“There’s going to be some dust,” he said, looking where she had been.

He walked to the ramp and saw the three soldiers, their M4 carbines drawn and pointed down at him. “It’s okay,” he said.

For just a moment they relaxed, and then the entire ramp exploded in a puff of fine white concrete powder.

“Run!”

He darted through the cloud and Aubrey followed on wobbling legs. There was another tremendous crash and when they reached the top of the ramp all three men and the Lambda girl were on their backs, clutching at their feet and ankles.

Dan jumped into the street and as she followed, a wall of asphalt and dirt jutted up out of the road, creating a barrier between them and any sniper on the surrounding buildings. With the wall in place, she reappeared to get some of her strength back, and they sprinted down a side street, the path and wall forming just in front of them as they ran.

He was amazing—far more powerful than anything she’d seen in the training area at Dugway, or even when the terrorists attacked the convoy. And as she ran, her stomach fell, wondering what kind of monster she had just unleashed.

She prayed Laura was telling the truth—that her actions the night before had just been moody, not sinister.

When they were four blocks down, she stopped and called for him to wait. The streets of San Francisco were a wasteland behind them. Aubrey bent over, crouching to catch her breath. She pulled the bottle of Flowerbomb from her jeans pocket and sprayed herself, much to Dan’s confusion.

“Trust me,” she said, with a gasp. “It’s how they’ll find us.”

She looked back the way they came and let out a small laugh. Like Jack and Laura would need much of a map to track them.

And then a dot appeared, coming at them impossibly fast.

“Dan—”

Before the word had escaped her lips, the road bulged upward. The dot, which became the shape of a man, couldn’t stop in time and rocketed up the bulge and over their heads. He flailed through the street, arms scrambling for hand holds in the empty air, before landing with a crunch.

Aubrey’s heart sank. The man didn’t move. No, he wasn’t a man. He was a Lambda. He was a teenager, just like her, and now his broken body lay in the street, motionless.

She wanted to throw up. He was dead. Just like that. Killed as casually as swatting a fly.

“Where’s Laura?” Dan asked.

Aubrey stood and stared for several seconds.

“They’re going to come after us,” Dan urged. “Where’s Laura?”

Aubrey stared. Without even looking, she disassembled the M9 and dropped it to the dirt.

“Come on,” Dan said.